One of the more intriguing storylines of the Rocco Baldelli era has been the Minnesota Twins’ inability to steal bases. Since he became the club’s skipper, the team has been dead last with 285 stolen bases from 2019 to 2024. It was jarring for Twins fans who remember watching Rod Carew, Chuck Knoblauch, Cristian Guzmán, and Denard Span.
It felt like the team had abandoned the ground game.
The Twins have had a rough start, with a 9-16 record in the first month of the 2025 season. However, one of the team’s bright spots could be the increased usage and success rate of the ground game.
Minnesota has stolen 16 bases as a team through the first 24 games of the 2025 season, ranking 23rd in all of baseball. Compare that to the first 24 contests of 2024, where the team was dead last in the league with just 5 stolen bases.
That’s not a huge increase, but going from the bottom to the middle-third of base-stealing teams is a meaningful improvement. Pair that with Minnesota’s +3.2 base running score calculated by FanGraphs, which ranks fourth-best in baseball. It’s still early, although Minnesota’s initial production shows it is turning a previous weakness into a strength this season.
Some fans blame Baldelli’s “analytical approach” for the lack of running. While the numbers aren’t great, circumstantial evidence indicates Baldelli appreciates solid base running.
After his playing career ended, Baldelli worked on former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon’s staff. Despite what you heard in the movie Moneyball years ago, an analytical-minded team like the Rays loves to steal bases. Tampa’s 691 stolen bases since 2019 rank second in all of baseball.
It’s also a league-wide push. Last year, teams across baseball stole 3,617 bases. That’s the most steals in a single season since 1914, when MLB recorded 4,574 stolen bases. Catchers prioritize pitch framing over slowing down the ground game, and opposing teams are taking advantage.
The Twins need to jump on the base-stealing bandwagon. They may have wanted to steal bases before, but their team lacked runners to swipe bases. Baseball Savant tracks sprint speed, offering an insight into Minnesota’s running woes in the Baldelli era.
Here is where the Twins rank throughout baseball:
The Twins are stealing bases, even though they don’t have much team speed. Instead, they have a core of runners who collectively can move up the baserunning ranks.
Byron Buxton is the centerpiece of Minnesota’s offense. At age 31, Buxton’s 30.2 ft./sec. sprint speed matches Bobby Witt Jr. for the best in baseball. The Twins are scarier on the base paths when he’s healthy.
So far this season, Buxton has played in 22 games and is 5 for 5 in stolen base attempts. Buxton’s elite speed doesn’t always translate to stolen bases. For example, he has never stolen third base because he can easily score from second on any ball hit into the outfield.
However, the immediate presence of Minnesota’s No. 3 prospect Luke Keaschall could get the fanbase most excited about its base-stealing ability. The 2023 second-round selection out of Arizona State has impressed with a .500 on-base percentage over his first 5 big league games. He’s displayed strong bat-to-ball skills and plate discipline, but his speed has caught everyone’s attention. Baldelli let Keaschall’s 28.0 ft./sec. sprint speed loose, and he’s stolen 5 bases on 5 attempts through his first 5 games, tying an MLB record.
“I think sometimes, more than anything, it’s a particular mix of players that allows you to do certain things,” said Baldelli. “I’d be missing the point if I didn’t reference an explosive, healthy Byron Buxton, and even a Luke Keaschall.
“Having a combination of just two guys can do for creating mayhem and grabbing extra bases and runs when you add them into the lineup. Those things can compound really fast.”
Minnesota also has other runners with solid speed who can help create havoc in the run game. Outfielders Harrison Bader and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. let loose on the base paths. Bader’s 27.6 ft./sec. sprint speed has made a big difference in the field.
The Twins will lean more into his legs on the bases to add to the single stolen base he’s recorded in 2025. They will tap into Kiersey’s 28.5 ft./sec. sprint speed in late-game situations. However, they’ve placed Willi Castro on the injured list, which will hamper their ground game. When he returns to the lineup, it will add a 27.8 ft./sec. sprint speed runner who has already stolen 48 bases over the last two-plus seasons into the mix.
“Two guys can’t make a good baserunning team,” said Baldelli. “But Willi, when he’s healthy, and DK, when he’s out there, can really make some things happen, too. And the other guys are running the bases well, you know, upstairs; they’re making good decisions and also running the bases as aggressive as they can. [Harrison] Bader’s gonna do some of these things for us, too. As the season goes on, I think we’re going to see a lot of that.”
A better ground game can’t fully save a Twins lineup that has scored 85 runs this season, along with their .642 team OPS, which are 26th in MLB. Stealing more bases could help around the margins. Keaschall reaching on a walk and stealing second may boost the team’s .348 slugging percentage.
Keaschall still would have found a way to get himself in scoring position. The Twins don’t need to match Tampa’s base-stealing totals to be impactful. However, they must find a way to be in the league average range, and the impacts from where they were to now would be an instant source of life for a Target Field crowd that could use something to cheer about.
“It’s nice to take it to the opposition,” said Baldelli. “You want the other team to be on their toes, or to cause panic at times, to make things happen, and not always wait for things to come to you. No, you take the game to the other side, and you can do it when you have guys that are running the bases like that.”
Being a team that can consistently run the bases well is something Twins fans haven’t been able to brag about since the early days of Target Field or back to the late Metrodome days. The Twins aren’t going to break any base-stealing records this season. Still, they can make a part of their game that was a glaring weakness for so long into a legitimate strength. The Twins are finally building the personnel to run the bases and should lean into their legs.
